Rockets’ Amen Thompson Shuts Down Shooting Critics With A Confident Statement

The Houston Rockets’ guard Amen Thompson recently spoke to the media scrum as the team began training camp ahead of the preseason games.

One of the biggest drawbacks keeping players like Joe Johnson from fully trusting Thompson to take his game to the next level and become an All-Star this season is his inability to consistently make jump shots in the NBA so far. When asked if that criticism is leading to his game being underappreciated, Thompson had a fairly confident response.

“I mean, yeah, they’ve got to talk about something. So, I feel like I’m really good at a lot of things. I’m really passionate, you know, on the court, and it’s fun to do that. I guess you pick on that one thing, but I mean, I work on it every day. I know I’m going to be a good shooter, so it doesn’t matter,” Thompson said.

Amen Thompson signed a five-year, $208 million contract extension this summer despite missing out on All-NBA or All-Defensive Team honors in 2025-26. He ended last season averaging 18.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 5.3 assists while shooting 53.4% from the field and 21.6% from behind the three-point line.

A consistent jump shot, as Thompson rightly said, was the only thing critics could point to when telling him how to improve his game.

But that does not take away from everything he already does for the team, which includes his dominant, uber-athletic floor presence near the rim on both ends of the floor to block shots, catch lobs, and collect rebounds, using his elite playmaking vision, and being a defensive menace to most of his opponents’ superstars.

Given that the Rockets have hired a new shooting coach, almost all the training-camp footage on social media shows Thompson working on his jump shot with Chip Engelland all summer so far.

Alperen Şengün and Amen Thompson working with Chip Engelland after Rockets practice.

Even after today’s practice, Reed Sheppard spoke highly of Amen Thompson’s attitude this offseason towards working on his weaknesses.

“I mean, everything. The shot looks really good. It’s a lot smoother, and his body looks different. He also gained a lot of weight this summer. You can tell he’s been in the gym and improving,” Sheppard said on what looks different about Thompson as compared to last season.

“I feel good. I was eating really healthy, so I put on weight, but I feel like the exact same, which is good,” Thompson said on his weight gain before talking about his All-Star ambitions.

“Yeah, for sure. I mean that’s always one of my goals. You know, I want to be one of the best players in the league. So just All-NBA, All-Star, All-Defense, you know, those are some of my goals,” Amen Thompson further added.

The Rockets’ young star seems committed to silencing his harshest critics, as demonstrated by his unwavering confidence and obvious focus on improving his jumper.

His already strong all-around game could improve significantly if his offseason work results in consistent shooting, which could bolster his case for All-Star and All-NBA honors this season. It will be very fascinating to see if Amen Thompson’s offseason work translates on the court in the regular season.